When I got sober I frequented another forum everyday from the day I quit until about 6 months ago.(about a year and 4 months). The forum is very recovery/AA oriented, and although they have many relapsers, seldom if ever will someone say it is OK to moderate or it's normal to keep on failing. When you post most people will try to push you to AA, and now they are more open to AVRT, but many preach the Big Book gospel, letting you know that AA is the only way.
I hated that line of thinking, and I looked for a more secular and logical approach to getting sober, and many times I was told that I would relapse because I wasn't doing it a specific way. I realize that in the beginning I was so hell bent on not having to do AA that I stayed sober out of spite to prove those people wrong who said AA was the only way, and I wanted to continue posting proudly and tell them I am doing it "MY WAY!"
Now I did it and lost the obsession and I will not drink again, so I got away from that forum, and I came here thinking this is a perfect forum, where you choose your own way with the support of others. But I find the place to be so nice that it sort of lacks in making people feel very accountable to "their way" whatever that might be. It almost seems that instead being called "My Way Out" a better name might be "If I can't find an easy way out I will continue trying to moderate unsuccessfully".
There really isn't an easy way out, and although I do real like this place as a support network, I just wonder if it were more focused on just not drinking today if it might not be a more effective tool.
I only relapsed once at the other forum, and I was ashamed to the point that I contemplated never going back, but I did, and they told me I needed AA, and I stuck with my way and learned to love sobriety and my recovery process.
So again I am just a sober visitor to this forum, hoping to help people find their way, and I really don't have a stake in whether it works for everyone, and I am sure it has helped many many people find their path to sobriety, but I will ask being that there really isn't any major pressure being put on people to get sober and it is an all accepting forum is it too nice to be as effective as it could. Or would people just leave and drink anyway if they felt pressured?
Just curious to hear your thoughts?
Comment